AFRICA: Rescue workers have recovered 270 bodies so far from a mudslide in the outskirts of the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown.

AMERICAS: President Trump’s threat to use the American military against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s government has united Latin American leaders in demanding the US keep out of the region’s affairs.

ASIA: China criticized US president Donald Trump’s possible US trade investigation of Beijing’s technology policies as a violation of global rules.

EUROPE: Russian intelligence agency, the FSB, said they have detained a Ukrainian intelligence agent who was plotting acts of sabotage in the Russia-occupied Crimea.

MIDDLE EAST: Iran could abandon its nuclear agreement with world powers “within hours” if the US imposes any more new sanctions, President Hassan Rouhani said.

TECHNOLOGY: Los Angeles tech company DreamHost is resisting a US Justice Department demand to identify visitors to an anti-Trump website — a request the company says violates the Constitution.

TOP STORY

North Korea: Kim Jong-un holds off on Guam missile launch.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reviewed plans to fire missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam but will hold off, North Korean state media said.

The announcement appeared shortly after US Defense Secretary James Mattis warned that an attack could quickly escalate to war, although it’s unclear if the developments were linked.

Mattis also cautioned that “we’ll take it out” if the missile is located heading to the US territory off the coast of Philippines.

Even as the US and South Korea prepared for more joint military drills and experts warned North Korea could still go ahead with its provocative plan.

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea said that no country should start a military action on the Korean Peninsula without his nation’s approval.

Mali: The UN Security Council condemned “in the strongest terms” the terrorist attacks on the camps of the country’s UN mission, which killed nine people. (Xinhua)

Sierra Leone: Rescue workers have recovered 270 bodies so far from a mudslide in the outskirts of the capital, Freetown. (Reuters)

South Africa: Police were investigating an alleged assault by Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe on a model who was staying at a Johannesburg hotel. (AFP)

AMERICAS

Region: President Trump’s threat to use the American military against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s government has united Latin American leaders in demanding the US keep out of the region’s affairs. (NYT)

United States: A 23-year-old man was arrested after he tried to blow up a bank in downtown Oklahoma City using a vehicle bomb similar to the one that destroyed the federal building there in 1995. (NYT)

ASIA

Region: The death toll in flooding and landslides in northern India, southern Nepal and Bangladesh rose to 245, while millions of others have been displaced. (AP)

Afghanistan: The Taliban sent an “open letter” to President Donald Trump, reiterating their calls for America to leave the country after 16 years of war. (AP)

China: The country criticized President Donald Trump’s possible US trade investigation of Beijing’s technology policies as a violation of global rules. (AP)

India: PM Narendra Modi said that “bullets and abuses” cannot bring peace in Kashmir, as the country celebrates 70 years since independence. (BBC)

Pakistan: A roadside bomb killed eight soldiers in a remote district in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the second attack within days. (Reuters)

EUROPE

Region: Russian intelligence agency, the FSB, said they have detained a Ukrainian intelligence agent who was plotting acts of sabotage in the Russia-occupied Crimea. (AP)

Region: Britain will seek a “temporary customs union” with the EU after Brexit, as the UK prepared to publish its first detailed proposals on the future partnership. (AFP)

Russia: Members of St. Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly urged local law enforcement to investigate an attack on LGBT activists. (RFE/RL)

Ukraine: The in-absentia treason trial of former President Viktor Yanukovych is scheduled to restart on today. (RFE/RL)

MIDDLE EAST

Iran: The country could abandon its nuclear agreement with world powers “within hours” if the US imposes any more new sanctions, President Hassan Rouhani said. (Reuters)

Iran: An unarmed Iranian drone shadowed a US aircraft carrier and F-18 fighter jets close enough to put the lives of American pilots at risk, the US Navy said. (AP)

Iraq: The Iraqi military began an aerial bombardment of Tal Afar, a town under Islamic State control west of Mosul. (Reuters)